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Signature Classic |
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Lawrence of Arabia 1962 | PG | Adventure, Drama | d. David Lean Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif |
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| “The English have a great hunger for desolate places. I fear they hunger for Arabia.” – Alec Guinness as Prince Feisal in Lawrence of Arabia. Ranked by the American Film Institute as the #1 cinema epic of all time, David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is a visual masterpiece coupled with an intense character study of a man torn between his loyalties to his native England and the Arabian desert and tribesmen he comes to love. Garnering 7 Oscars, including those for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Musical Score, Lean’s expansive cinematic vision stretches before the eyes with a sense of unprecedented space, seeming to defy the limits of even the largest screens. Filmed entirely on location in Jordan, Morocco and Spain, and without the benefit of computer-aided graphics, Lawrence of Arabia stages epic battles and death-defying journeys through vast, inhospitable landscapes, all seen through the eyes of a British officer obsessed with his cause – and his own heroic image. A relatively unknown Peter O’Toole, in an Oscar-nominated performance, portrays the real-life T.E. Lawrence’s monomaniacal drive to win Arab independence from the Turks in 1916-18. O’Toole’s Lawrence is a compelling mix of enigma, sensitivity, vanity, humanity and, at times, repressed sadism that in many ways reflects the real Lawrence’s conflicted portrayal of himself in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. A distinguished supporting cast, which includes Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy and Jose Ferrer, along with thousands of extras and award-winning photography, make Lawrence of Arabia an unforgettable movie experience, a must-see on the big screen. - Tom Schmid | ||